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Friday, August 11, 2017

Leftovers and Critters

We seem to have a lot more critters showing up over the past few months:

Remember those cute little bunnies I found in my lower perennial bed? Well, since I last mentioned them, we now have RABBITS EVERYWHERE!!!! I kid you not, regardless of which direction you look in the morning or at dusk, you'll spot a rabbit. In fact, the chicken wiring that the Pres and I put up to protect my front perennial did not even keep the rascals out. They ate my Lupines, the Dianthus that Auntie Gloria gave me years ago, the early shoots of the Garden Phlox, all my Virginia Bluebells in both the upper and lower beds, the tender, young shoots of my Hosta, all the Pansies, and even some new shoots of Sedum!! Yes indeed those cute little bunnies had voracious appetites. They cleaned house every evening and every day when I went out to weed, I would find their leftovers, which resembled dry, wrinkled, damaged lettuce leaves like you and I throw away. In fact several times while I was in the upper bed, a baby about the size of my fist would scurry away, taking cover in the Ajuga, Creeping Phlox and Iris. Not only was I cleaning up after the Pres but now I was cleaning up after the darn rabbits!! And they made their hutches under my plants too! I found one under a clump of Lilies, another one under the Dianthus and the third one was near the Bachelor Buttons!!

This one was the most brazen. It would eat everything along the walk that leads to the front door!!

Of course, our place wouldn't be home without the deer. Wandering around the perimeter of the fenceline and snorting at me when I walk into the woods to observe the Eagles, they remain well fed enjoying the salt lick we put down for them.

Lately a wild turkey..a hen...wanders through the yard every morning with her seven young ones. However, this morning their were eight when I counted. It was so funny to watch the mom carefully scan her young. Watching her do a double-take, she immediately charged into the crowd of eight singling out a "jenny" (a young female)...who definitely was not hers nor did she want it near her poults! Please accept my apologies for the pix as they were taken through the screened windows.

Finally, for some reason, I'm seeing a lot of Monarchs this year, which I am very happy to see. Although I don't want to take all the credit, I did help Mother Nature along by planting tons of Milkweed seed (but shhhhhhh...don't tell the Pres...he hates Milkweed plants near his LAWN)!!

12 comments:

Great pictures. We have so many turkeys around here that it isn't funny. There was a hunting ban on them for years and years and years. My understanding is that there is going to be an open season on them this year to thin them out a bit.

I can see how critters can do a lot of damage...I had my little garden at the lake ruined in one day by rabbits. I can't imagine what those of you do with all of the other 'banquet attendees'! I think we have age old problem, with many folklore answers as well as new age answers which aren't humane.

I so enjoyed your pics. I'd be ecstatic to get one tiny, grainy photo of the birds at my new feeder!!!

You have your own zoo :) I would not be happy with all those rabbits helping themselves to my flowers. We've had various creatures living under our shed over the years and I've never minded so long as they don't do any damage. That butterfly is so pretty. I haven't seen a single one this summer

Hello, your place and plants attract all the cute critters. I love the bunnies and deer. The turkeys are funny, do they eat bugs on the grass? The Monarch is beautiful. Wonderful critter photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

what a beautiful butterfly picture. I smiled when I saw the deer, as it's such a magestic animal. And that rabbit is sweet. I see them sometimes at the trail, but they are scared and quickly run in the high grass to blend in. These were very nice pictures today. Thanks for sharing. Nature gets to me every time.

They do say "breed like rabbits" right? Oh, I am so sorry you have been over-run and cannot enjoy your flowers because they are making such nice salads for the rabbits! I watched as a rabbit ate my lilies, from my bedroom window. Yelling out the window did no good. Now I worry, but so far my few flowers are surviving. I made sure the chicken wire fencing was good, but honestly if they wanted in, they could get in! I'm lucky that my nextdoor neighbor has a lot of stuff growing both inside and outside his fence, and I guess we don't have very many rabbits. Enjoyed your phots.

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